Issue regarding overall sound of my tracks

Bobon

A bit of a noob issue here. My beef is with the overall sound on my tracks. I have listened to a lot of peoples music on this forum and the overall sound can be amazing. My tunes tend to sound very flat. I realise most people here have a lot of experience producing but I have heard tracks from people just starting out and their tracks also sound more beefed up than mine.

Now I know **** all about mastering but have read up on it and try to master my tracks as best as I possibly can. I use Ableton 8 and through another website, found out that the program isn't great for mastering tracks. I realise I'm not going to be able to master a track to perfection in the short period of time that I've been doing this but would it be worth mastering my tracks in another program?

Please Dance Music Forum, hear my call

seannash

i wouldnt worry about mastering.worry about getting a good mix first and foremost.

also if you post examples of your tracks up you might get more specific answers instead of people just spouting general techniques.

just as a side not any tracks i post have no mastering on them and i reckon they dont sound too bad so dot rely on mastering to "make"your sound

Four-Percent

Compressor with long attack & slow release works well on drums.

For synths:

If you have PSP vintagewarmer, I think there's a big name (axwell maybe?) who uses that a lot:

he has a chain of something like Compressor-Vintagewarmer-compressor- short reverb, with compressor only taking maybe one or two DB off. I remember trying this and being surprised at the results!


Also, you could freeze and flatten your tracks, duplicate them twice and then pan one track left and right. Put a HP filter on the panned tracks,then group them and try using the chain above^^, i like that one.

If you're looking for something a bit more ambient, try duplicating a track and putting a large reverb on it.I find this helps a lot.

For bass, i think EQing helps a lot here, can't remember what the range for bass is but boosting certain frequencies and removing others helps make it clearer.Sidechain compression helps too.

These are pretty basic really, but I'm too inexperienced to go into anything in depth.

DamagedTrax

ok,

firstly mastering when you dont know what you're doing is the worst thing possible. you should be aiming to get your mix to the highest possible standard before you even consider mastering. if you need a few db of volume (for listening purposes) then use a good limiter BUT DONT SMASH IT. remember that a mildly limited track can still be turned up by the volume knob but a track thats smashed thru the limiter, while loud, will sound like crap!

you mention that your mixes are flat. you need to teach yourself about the soundstage and really start concentrating on where everything goes in the mix.

heres a few simple rules for placing parts in the mix (only a very rough guide though.. it gets a lot deeper than this)

pan - for placement left to right
fairly obvious this one

volume & eq - for vertical placement
shaving the low end of an instrument will make it appear higher (vertically) in the mix. cutting the high end can have the opposite affect. also learn your frequencies as eq will eliminate overlapping frequency problems and help your mix open up a lot.

volume can be used to bring the important parts to the front (aswell as your initial levels)

reverb & delay - for the third axis, ie: front to back
reverbs and delays are not just "special FX". they are also very valuable mix tools and can make a part appear to move into the background of your mix and can be a very good way of keeping a feel of a less important part while at the same time tucking it away.

other fx - modulation (phase, flange, chorus etc)
modulation fx will give life to your mix. a slight amount of chorus on a dull bass part will thicken it up and give it life. modulation fx added to a reverb buss can add a sense of realism to plugin reverbs as the original hardware pieces often modulated a touch on their tails. even in extreme settings this can be a useful tool and can quite often distinguish a pro from a beginner


most importantly learn compression - i mean really learn it. read up on how and why it works. learn how the differant compressor types react and learn how to choose the right compressor for the part. practice with a single file and a compressor and see what the differant settings do, attack and release are especially important as they can affect the feel of a part. learn to use it to control dynamics aswell as for a musical effect

compression can bring a part out to the front, it can make a lively part a little more tame. sidechained to a kick it can bring life to a bassline. it is probably the single most important tool we use but on the flip it is probably the one thing that, when used badly, can destroy a track.

good luck.

Bobon

Sean Nash - them tracks sound great. They definitely aren't mastered? :eek:

Do you use ableton or Logic?

Here's a link to my myspace page www.myspace.com/raisingagentireland. The top 2 songs are the newest ones and I suppose I was referring to these in particular when talking about beefing them up. The older songs not so much as I can't really stand them :P

Four-Percent - cheers for that. Theres some good tips in that which I'll definitely try. I normally add compression to my drums and bass. Then I add compression, Eq and limiter to the master track. I got that info from doing research on the net but I generally bluff it.

Edit to say: Cheers Damaged Trax. I do try to spend a bit of time with the mix myself. Thanks for the tips. I will delve into it more deeply.

seannash

no no mastering on em,label masters them if they want to release them.
i reckon just work on the mixdown.my mixdowns are far from perfect but they sound alright before they hit the mastering stage,which can only improve them i guess

oh and i use logic

Bobon

seannash wrote: »

no no mastering on em,label masters them if they want to release them.
i reckon just work on the mixdown.my mixdowns are far from perfect but they sound alright before they hit the mastering stage,which can only improve them i guess

oh and i use logic

Cool. Sounds good. I'll work on the mixdowns for sure from now on.

Cheers Sean

seannash

no problem

just like to point out that there are alot more experienced people on here and mine is only one take on the situation but i reckon most would agree about getting a good mixdown first

Dragan

http://www.kubton.com/eq.html

I found this to be a great help with regard to understanding EQ.